Kinnie Starr
Tidy
Violet Inch (CD)
Do you have a friend, sister, wife/partner, etc. who, for no readily apparent reason, has so far refused to let go of that #@%$ Alanis Morrisette album? Go buy her Tidy. Go do it now. This review will be here when you get back.
Back yet? Good. The first thing you'll notice is that the first few tracks on Tidy lack the immediate accessibility of Alanis Product, so it'll be a lot harder to turn them into Pepsi commercials a year or so down the road. Despite the lack of sound-bite sloganeering, there are messages -- they're just not slap-in-the-face simple. There's plenty of feminism -- presented as fact, not as a challenge or a rallying cry (Ms. Amos, take note) -- and a pervading mood of tolerance, be it of sexual lifestyles, beliefs, etc. There are also songs that fall into the extremely broad "relationships" category. "Ophelia" and "Woven" seem unquestionably Sapphic -- I gather Kinnie is bisexual, but even if she isn't, she's done a fine job of creating beautiful images of shared intimacy.
Musically, Tidy is a melange of wailing guitars, slow hip-hop beats, distorted vocals, rap, world music and raw ambience; at first, it gets in your face a bit, but it mellows with each successive listen. It's very cool. Kinnie's not an angry woman looking for a place to yell -- she has something to say and she's found her own forum. You should listen. -- george zahora